Wednesday, August 15, 2012

History has it that Kamsa was a
cruel and unjust ruler of Mathura.
Kamsa was greedy and cunning, and imprisoned his father Ugrasena to become the
King of Mathura by deceit. Kamsa aspired to rule the world, and his frequent
war mongering left the peace loving people of Mathura
harassed and exploited. When he learnt that the eighth son of his sister Devaki
& Vasudev would kill him, Kamsa imprisoned them both and killed each of
their children as soon as it was born.

But the eighth son, Krishna,
survived.

It is said that when Krishna
was born, the doors of the prison where Devaki & Vasudev were kept opened
automatically, and the guards fell into a hypnotic sleep. It was midnight and raining heavily, but a Sheshnag
appeared from nowhere and protected Baby Krishna from the heavy rain. The
raging Yamuna calmed down almost by magic, and made way for Vasudev to pass to
the other side of the overflowing river. For the next few years, as Krishna
grew up in Gokula, Kamsa spent all his time searching for Krishna.
He lost his appetite and slept poorly at night. He could see his dream of
conquering the world fade away. He got obsessed with the thought of killing Krishna,
but all his attempts to assassinate Krishna went in
vain. The poisonous Putana could cause no harm, and Trinavarta, the ‘whirlwind’
demon was blown away. Arishta, Keshi, Kaliya and many others fell like ninepins
before the might and magic of Krishna. Krishna
was unstoppable, Krishna was unbeatable. Krishna
was the Supreme Being.Krishna was an idea whose time
had come.

Today, five thousand years later, India again awaits an idea
whose time has come.